2012 PokerStars.net ANZPT Season 5 Auckland Day 1b: Caris Takes the Lead
The PokerStars.net Australia New Zealand Poker Tour Auckland Main Event attracted 56 players to the SKYCITY Auckland Casino for Day 1b.
On Day 1b, all eyes were on several notables who were in the field. 2009 APPT Sydney Main Event Champion Aaron Benton was seated on the same table as 2012 ANZPT Melbourne Main Event Champion Sam Razavi, with reigning ANZ POTY Mishel Anunu directly behind them, on a neighboring table. Unfortunately for these three, there days were relatively short.
Others who also fell were Didier Guerin, Dean Francis, and John Harmon. Guerin went all in preflop holding A♥J♥ and was called by his opponent who was holding A♠K♦. He took the lead after flopping a jack, but a king fell on the turn to end his day. Harmon was involved in one hand when he, Jie Gao, Richard Lancaster all committed there chips on a flop reading 10♥8♣7♥. Harmon was behind with top pair, as was Gao with both flush and straight draws, but Lancaster held the lead holding pocket kings. The river, however, dropped a jack, to complete a straight for Gao to rocket him up to the chip lead, send Harmon to the rail, and leave Lancaster with barely any chips.
When all the chips were finally bagged and tagged, Australian tournament regular Charles Caris had edged out local player Marc Wittkopf for the chip lead. In the last level of the night, Caris reraised Lee preflop and was called, as both saw the flop fall queen-high. Lee checked his option, before Caris moved all in for his last 25,000 in chips. Lee eventually called and Caris' ace-king out-kicked Lee’s ace-jack.
Caris finished with a stack of 108,900 to lead his 24-player field into Day 2. Right on his tail was Marc Wittkopf (108,600), Jie Gao (104,500) and Jason Lee (93,300). The aforementioned players all had fantastic second halves to their Day 1b and will be amongst the chip leaders heading into Day 2.
Day 1c is set to kick off at 1230 NZDT Friday (1530 PDT Thursday). Make sure to join the PokerNews Live Reporting Team, for more exciting action!
ANZPT Auckland Day 1b Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charles Caris | 108,900 |
| 2 | Marc Wittkopf | 108,600 |
| 3 | Jie Gao | 104,500 |
| 4 | Jason Lee | 93,300 |
| 5 | Geoff Smith | 84,000 |
| 6 | Malvina McKenzie | 65,700 |
| 7 | Peter Field | 52,500 |
| 8 | Wentao Qi | 48,800 |
| 9 | Shane Ching | 48,200 |
| 10 | Brendon Ng | 45,200 |
Be sure to head on over to the PokerNews Live Reporting Page for all of your up-to-the-minute tournament updates.
